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Ms. Kimberly Thompson sat to his right. Sharp angles and a strong jaw went against traditional standards of beauty. But it was an arresting face that, coupled with her quiet confidence and Mona Lisa smile, made one look twice.
Nettleton slid the signed contract out of the envelope. His smile broadened as he stared down at Griffith’s signature. Rosalind waited for a sense of victory, of accomplishment.
Nothing. Nothing but the persistent numbness that had settled over her like a shield when she’d walked away from Griffith’s room.
“You’ve always been an asset to this firm, Rosalind.”
Really? Even when you threatened to fire me?
“Thank you, sir.”
“Which is why we’d like to offer you the position of midlevel attorney.”
His words washed over her. The words she had been working toward for the past two years.
In a flash, she saw the next five years. No weekend jaunts to Europe as she worked longer hours. The couple of trips she took home every year becoming fewer and further between even though she would be making more money to cover the cost.
No pleasurable afternoons reading on a patio. Indulging in a sun-drenched picnic.
It hit her all at once.
This isn’t what Mom wanted. She wanted you to do what made you happy. She thought this would, that’s why she pushed you so hard. She wanted you to have the financial security to do whatever you wanted. Whatever made you happy. To have options.
“Rosalind?”
She looked up to see Nettleton watching her, the smile still in place but a faint crinkle between his brows.
“Sorry, sir.” She shook her head. “I just...”
Temptation flared, bright and blinding for one spellbinding moment. To take the safe choice.
And then it disappeared. Where had it gotten her before? Lonely. Overworked. Heartbroken.
“This is what I thought I wanted. But recently, I’ve come to realize that I’ve been trying to be someone I’m not.”
Robert sputtered. “You’re quitting.”
“Yes.” Rosalind smiled. “Yes, sir, I’m submitting my notice.”
“You can’t just quit the most prestigious—”
Kimberly silenced her colleague. She gave Rosalind a slight smile before shooting Robert a cold gaze that made his continued objections fall silent. “What will you do now?”
“Take a break. Go to Maine and visit my family.” She glanced out the window at the clouds scuttling over the London skyline. Even on stormy days, England had become home. “Then come back and start my own firm.”
Kimberly blinked. And then she smiled, a true smile that stretched from ear to ear.
“It’ll be a lot of work.”
Robert muttered something under his breath, but Rosalind ignored it.
“It will be. But I’ll get to work with the kind of clients that got me interested in doing this.” She grinned. “And I’ll get to call the shots.”
She walked out of the office with her head held high. Each step she took buoyed her confidence, until she was fairly brimming with it.
Was she scared of the uncertainty, worried about what the next phase of life had in store for her? Absolutely. But she would get to tackle it on her own terms with her own dreams leading the way.
She should call her father. Tell him she was coming home for a visit. Tell him in person about the momentous decision she had made.
